Pittsburgh police and public safety officials repeated publicly for City Council on Tuesday a message they had delivered in a private briefing earlier this month -- that they have backed away from a policy change that would have had officers taking some crime reports only by phone, instead of face-to-face with the victims.

"When in doubt, we send an officer. So if we're not sure, if the lines are in any way gray, let's make sure we err on the side of the quality of the service that our citizens get," Police Chief Cameron McLay told council members who attended the public meeting in Council chamber.

McLay and Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich emphasized that officers will still respond personally to reports of crimes against persons -- including simple assault, harrassment and terroristic threat reports, even as they try to channel some less urgent calls to a telephone-response unit in order to keep more patrol officers on the street.

"I wanted to make sure the appropriate training was in place, that we don't have potential tragedy where someone (reporting) potential domestic violence would call in, and it turned out to be something more than just a simple assault," Hissrich told the council.

The idea behind increasing the use of the Police Bureau's Telephone Reporting Unit was to keep more Pittsburgh police out on patrol by not sending them to take reports in person for simple assault, harassment and terroristic threats, if there is no immediate danger to the victim.

Council members made it clear that constituents and organizations have been telling them they don't like the idea of having those sorts of complaints being handled only over the phone..

The head of Allegheny County 911 Operations Center told the meeting that the policy for 911 call takers has always been -- if there is any question -- to err on the side of sending a police officer.

"Part of their training is, 'Whenever in doubt, send it out.' Any question, it's always been if there's any doubt in their mind, send it out," said Don Sand, 911 Operations Coordinator.

The head of the police union in the city says that's been happening.

"From a practical standpoint, that's what they're doing. So it's not like a big delay, 'Hey we're really not sure.' They'll put it out to a street man like myself, I work a street unit in Zone 2. They'll send me to that call," said Robert Swartzwelder, president of the Pittsburgh local of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Meanwhile, an unrelated issue came to light as a result of questions asked by a council member the meeting.

Some employees of the Allegheny County 911 Call Center are concerned that the center may be moved out of the city of Pittsburgh to a suburban Allegheny County location, but the county says no moved is planned right now.

Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith asked the 911 operations coordinator if the talk of a move was true. Sand answered he couldn't comment, but since then a county spokeswoman issued a denial of the rumors.

Pittsburgh's Action News 4 has learned that some employees are concerned the 911 operations center may move from Pittsburgh's Point Breeze neighborhood to a former US Air logistics center in suburban Allegheny County, near the border with Beaver County, and say that it could happen by next spring.

That talk led to the councilwoman's concern.

"It does concern me. And it concerns me, one, how it will be employing city of Pittsburgh residents if they can't transport themselves to a facility that far away. Like I said, it's just rumors at this point," Kail-Smith told Pittsburgh's Action News 4.

Allegheny County government spokeswoman Amie Downs provided a response by email.

"We have no plans to move the county's 911 Center. With that being said, we are constantly evaluating our facilities and best use of those facilities," Downs wrote. "If an option were to arise that would be a better fit for our facility, our employees and county residents, we would certainly consider that opportunity."